Taconic State Park
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Taconic State Park is a New York State Park along the border with Massachusetts and Connecticut across Columbia County and Dutchess County It is located two to three hours from midtown New York City. Taconic State Park, along the New York border, adjoins Massachusetts's Mount Washington State Forest and Mount Everett State Reservation.
This area encompasses about 5,000 acres (20.2 km²) of forest and supports a variety of wildlife. Threaded through this wilderness are blazed hiking trails which rise in the Taconic Mountains to vistas across the Berkshires and the Hudson River Valley to the Catskills. Trails range in difficulty by steepness and length of rise from medium to difficult (greatest difficulty trails rise almost 1000 vertical feet with a gradient of 20 to 30 degrees). This region gets snow cover from December though March and provides excellent snowshoeing.
Although hunting is prohibited in the park, you are best advised to wear bright colors during the November-December deer hunting season. Trail maps are available from bookstores, camping and hunting/fishing stores in the area.
[edit] Features
Two camp sites in Taconic State Park offer swimming with lifeguards during the summer months. Campsite go for a nominal fee in Spring, Summer and Fall. Cabins are also available for rental from the park service.
Bash Bish Falls features a waterfall and is an easy hike over from the Copake Falls parking lot.
There is a paved bike trail from the park along a former railroad bed that skirts the forest and bordering farmlands.
